1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to freestanding stands for holding bottles, particularly wine bottles.
2. Prior Art
Various proposals have been made for freestanding bottle stands which have apertures in them to hold the necks of bottles so that each bottle is supported in cantilever fashion.
Swiss patent No. 418,111, published Feb. 15, 1967, which was cited as a reference against the application resulting in Cole U.S. Pat. No. 4,496,124, issued Jan. 29, 1985, shows a single upright board or panel having two rows of apertures through it for receiving the necks of bottles. German patent No. 25 45 971, published Apr. 28, 1977, also cited against the application resulting in U.S. Pat. No. 4,496,124, shows a similar bottle stand in FIGS. 1 and 2, except that five rows of apertures for receiving bottlenecks is shown instead of two rows.
Loud et al. U.S. Pat. No. 253,802, issued Jan. 1, 1980, also cited against the application resulting in U.S. Pat. No. 4,496,124, shows two upright boards mounted in parallel spaced relationship, each board having a vertical row of apertures through it, presumably for receiving the necks of wine bottles.
French patent No. 2,470,158, issued May 29, 1981, also cited against the application resulting in U.S. Pat. No. 4,496,124, shows in FIGS. 1 and 2 an easel type of bottle rack, one leg of the easel having six vertical rows of apertures shown in FIG. 3 as being intended to receive the necks of wine bottles.
Belokin, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 3,901,389, issued Aug. 26, 1975, also cited against the application resulting in U.S. Pat. No. 4,496,124, shows a variety of stands for supporting bottles, the upright member in each instance having apertures through which the necks of the bottles can be projected as shown in FIG. 3, for example, for supporting bottles in cantilever fashion. FIGS. 8 and 12 show inclined upright members as distinguished from vertical members having apertures for receiving necks of bottles as illustrated in FIG. 10.
Cole U.S. Pat. No. 4,496,124, issued Jan. 29, 1985, referred to above, shows a bottle support in the form of a single upright board having a single aperture through it for receiving the neck of a bottle, the end surfaces of which board are beveled at an angle of 60 degrees to horizontal and 30 degrees to vertical as shown in FIG. 3.